Mihail Draghicescu

Until 1882 the Romanian vessels used for navigation the Danube charts drawn by Russian specialists and nautical charts prepared by the British specialists. With the increase of the military ships on the Danube River and establishment of the Navy Children School, it was felt the need for drawing up and using the Romanian documents. In this respect, the Major (Navy) Mihail Drăghicescu, as Chief of Fleet Staff, ordered that during the training marches on the Danube and execution of students training practice on board the Romanian vessels, measurements on the Danube should be carried out in order to know precisely the channels of navigation and existing obstructions. Thus, in 1882 and 1883 Major Mihail Dragichescu, the crews and practitioners on the Fulgerul and Lebada ships collected a rich material, which, skillfully used by Draghicescu, led to the drawing up of the first Romanian Danube chart. This chart was reproduced at the scale 1:28 000 in 1895 being updated continuously by the mil